After Jayden’s epic engagement proposal in December 2014, the bar had been set for Jayden and Kelly’s wedding. Following nine solid months of planning, on Friday 21 August 2015, their wedding day had arrived.
Kelly and Jayden had looked at a lot of venues, but felt like Flaxton Gardens located up in the Sunshine Coast Hinterlands, represented them best. They both grew up on the land and, for them, the beautiful views and country feel (topped off by the windmill churning out water) made for a location of their dreams.
Georgina (owner of Flaxton Gardens) and Sam (wedding coordinator) of Flaxton Gardens helped Kelly and Jayden plan every little detail of their special day. And special is exactly how they make their brides and grooms feel. Nothing was ever too much trouble and every little detail was attended to – a timeline of how the day would take place had been plotted (and replotted, again and again!) and all of their ideas and requests recorded.
Kelly was determined not to let the weather impact the day, but of course she was a little disappointed. She said to me “I don’t care about the feature photos, as I know we can do them on another day…but I really want the ceremony to be outdoors”. As much as I was trying to stay positive and look at everything objectively, I also really wanted an outdoor ceremony for them – although the wet weather option at Flaxton Garden was still beautiful, there were a few surprises planned, which I knew would play out much better if the ceremony was held outdoors.
Kelly and her bridesma
ids made a pact to ignore the weather and were quickly distracted by the beauty preparations. They had Kirstie from Evalyn Parson’s Hair and Danielle from Napoleon Perdis in Brisbane attending to their hair and makeup – not that these girls really needed any help, they are natural beauties.
At one stage, I popped outside to look across the road to the apartment located on site at Flaxton Gardens, where I knew Jayden was getting ready. I could see Jayden on the verandah, also surveying the weather and no doubt wondering whether it would clear so they could have their outdoor ceremony.
Rich and Sean had been busy capturing the boys getting ready as well.
With the weather still not clearing, at 12 noon, Georgina came over to the Flaxton Gable to talk to Kelly and give her the options for an indoor ceremony. Georgina assured Kelly that they would do everything in their power for the ceremony to be outdoors and they would move the chairs in and out five times if they have to if there is any chance of the rain clearing. Kelly and Jayden had previously spoken to Georgina and their wedding celebrant, Darienne Davis, at the Thursday practice and said they would be prepared to delay the ceremony for an hour if it was raining and there was any chance of it clearing. Unfortunately, the chances of this happening were looking pretty grim. Georgina said if the ceremony had to be held indoors, then Kelly and Jayden could choose the direction and set-up they liked best, to still try and give the “outdoor” feel, but also what would be best for photos. I said to Rich he could decide on where it would be best light wise when he went over, but within about 5 minutes my phone rang and Rich asked me to come over so we could make the decision a team.
Meanwhile, Kelly’s Nana had arrived at the Flaxton Gable to to see how all the preparations were going. Nana was a hairdresser in her day but she was not game to give the hairdresser any advice on how to do Kelly’s hair for her special day!
Hair was being done by Kristy from Evelyn Parsons Hair, Kelly was looking radiant already.
A few comforting words and a soft hand hold from Nana – no better way to calm the nerves!
Jayden’s niece and Kelly’s goddaughter, Khloe’, had woken from her sleep and had arrived at the Flaxton Gable. She was ready to play with Kelly’s pretty pink shoes and beautiful wedding dress.
A little help from Kelly’s bridesmaid, Courtney, was required to get her little foot into these 5” heels!
With a wet weather option in place for the ceremony and makeup and hair done – it was almost time to put on “the” dress! Excitement was building…
Kelly had chosen a sweetheart strapless bridal gown designed by Karen Willis Holmes and custom made to fit. 29 buttons ran down the back of the dress. My goodness, Kelly said her dress fitted like a glove and she was certainly right – no room to get your fingers inside the dress to hold on to the buttons! Lucky she had two bridesmaids to do them all up.
All hands on deck please this isn’t an easy job with nails!!
A card and present from Jayden was delivered and caused some pre-ceremony (happy) tears. One very spoilt bride.
Finally dressed and ready, Kelly had a few moments to gather herself and peer outside. She was still so determined that nothing, especially the weather, was going to spoil her day. Little did she know what the next hour would bring, and in particular the surprises in store for the ceremony. The sun was starting to glisten through the clouds, but we were still not sure if the ceremony would be inside or out.
Admiring her bright and beautiful bouquet, carefully designed and crafted by Willow Bud.
The beautiful bride and bridesmaids, now ready and excited.
Kelly’s brothers were on hand to drive her across the road to the wedding, where her father was eagerly waiting to have his first embrace with his little girl on her wedding day. In the excitement, Kelly was oblivious to the fact that the rain had stopped, the sun was shining and most importantly, the ceremony was going to be outdoors, the staff at Flaxton Gardens were very busy putting chairs out ready for an outdoor wedding!
Now safe and sound in the “Barrel Room” at Flaxton Gardens, where only wooden doors and a short walk separated Kelly from her future husband. A little pat from Dad and a nice cold drink of water, all helping to ease the nerves. It was almost time…
Kelly’s brothers were making some final touches to their own outfits – looking very handsome indeed.
The Barrel Room had large wooden doors which would swing open, making for a dramatic and grand entrance. The first to walk down the aisle was little Khloe’. She had just turned 2 and, despite months of practice at home, Kelly and Jayden were not confident that she would make it down the aisle on her own with all of the distractions on the day.
She blew everyone away as she ran down to her Uncle Jay and even finished with a fist pump! Absolutely adorable.
Then, out came the bridesmaids, Courtney and Danita.
The doors then closed again. Everyone held their breath…until they swung open for a final time, and out came Jayden’s beautiful bride! Kelly’s friend Bec from Triple Shot Entertainment sang a beautiful version of “Feels like home”.
Kelly’s father held her hand as they walked a walk they will both remember and cherish forever.
A very proud father handing his beautiful daughter over to the safe hands of her future husband.
The emotion and happiness radiated from everyone present, especially Kelly and Jayden. True love was certainly in the air!
Kelly and Jayden were completely captivated by each other – oblivious to their surroundings. In true Sunshine Coast Hinterland style, the clouds were quickly rolling in from the coast…
Kelly and Jayden had written their vows separately and kept them from each other until the day. The exchange was magical, as the vows were filled and expressed with so much compassion. As Jayden said his vows, we captured the tears that rolled down Kelly’s beautiful face. Safe to say many of the guests were tearing up, also!
Luckily she had on hand her Nan’s handkerchief (who couldn’t come to the wedding) that she gave to her Mum for her wedding day to wipe away the tears.
As the celebrant, Darienne, said to get the rings, Jayden donned a glove and started to shake his hand. Kelly could not believe what she was seeing – a white owl was flying in her direction carrying a little white bag with the wedding rings in it! I could see Kelly exclaim, “Oh my goodness, what is happening!”. I organised this beautiful white faced owl, Luna, as I know how much Kelly and Jayden love their bird Skittles (a Green Cheek Conure), which was also in attendance on the day.
To add some extra entertainment to the ceremony, there was a territorial butcher bird after Luna! Luckily Jason from Raptor Vision, owner and trainer of Luna, was there to call Luna back so the ceremony could continue.
With that Jason called Luna back to him so the ceremony could continue.
The exchange of rings finally underway.
And of course we captured the kiss!
The ceremony wrapped up just in time, as the clouds continued to roll in and rain sprinkles started to fall. In light of this, the signing of the registry was put on hold – skipping straight to some quick hugs and congratulations!
But wait…another surprise was in store! Just as they were being announced as man and wife and about to walk back down the aisle…out of the crowd came a group of strangers singing an acapella version of “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce! This surprise was organised by Kelly’s brother, Brendan.
The shock on both Kelly and Jayden’s faces was priceless.
Rain started to fall as the flash mob were in full swing – but everyone was mesmerized and entertained that no one seemed to care. As the song finished, we made a quick dash for cover, back to the Barrel Room. Signing of the registry was quickly underway.
Time to celebrate and admire the beautiful ring hand crafted by Artisans gems and jewels in Paddington in Brisbane.
So with congratulations done and signing the register and a few quick pics with Luna the Owl from Raptor Vision. You could not take the smile off Kelly’s face.
The wedding guests were treated to a high tea and champagne, as the family and bridal party had some photos taken at the many picturesque spots on site at Flaxton Gardens. Following the rain was some fog that made the setting feel even more mystical – making for magical photos!
Some shots of the bridal party walking in the mist.
Of course the bouquets featured in many of the photographs – they were just stunning and were created by Willow Bud.
A sparkler entrance for the bridal party, before the guests were served delicious cocktail food. It was a perfect way for Kelly and Jayden to mingle with their guests – both wanting to make the most of every moment.
With a final inspection of the reception room prior to guests coming in made for some quiet time together to take in everything that had happened for the day.
The beautiful wedding cake was designed and made by Kelly’s friend Gillian from Creative Cakes by Gillian.
An amazing day and night was had by all. Stay tuned for my next blog which will showcase some of the feature photos we captured.
Thank you so, so much to Rich and Sean for capturing Kelly and Jayden’s day in such beautiful way – allowing me to enjoy the day as “Mother of the Bride”. You did not miss a thing, capturing each and every moment. Also thank you for both being flexible enough to change plans due to the weather conditions, and still produce such amazing images.
Thank you to Playback Studios for the amazing short movie of Kelly and Jayden’s day, it makes you feel like we are reliving it all over again, just perfect.
In the meantime, if you would like to read about Jayden’s proposal or see Kelly and Jayden’s engagement photos, or maybe see the video clip where Kelly’s Nana gave Kelly her wedding ring – you can do so via the following links.
Jayden proposed!!
Kelly and Jayden’s Engagement Shoot
Nana gives Kelly her wedding ring
Thank you for reading, Leonie and Rich
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